


A Light Into My Darkness

by Selenay



Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Background Clint Barton/Phil Coulson, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-30
Updated: 2012-11-30
Packaged: 2017-11-19 22:54:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/578512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selenay/pseuds/Selenay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha Romanov didn't think she had a type and if she did, Darcy Lewis was as far from that type as possible.</p>
<p>She might be wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Light Into My Darkness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [summerstorm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerstorm/gifts).



> Thanks to my wonderful beta, [Fahre](http://fahrenheit-f430.livejournal.com/profile), who always makes things better.
> 
> This was written for summerstorm for [femslash12](http://femslash12.dreamwidth.org/).

If she was ever asked, Natasha Romanov always said she didn't have a specific type that she preferred. It was a ridiculous, outdated concept that someone would only be attracted to a particular physicality or personality. And anyway, she didn't do relationships. She liked sex, obviously, but the kind of long term forever relationships that everyone seemed to be so determined to find were a fairy tale and Natasha was, at heart, a realist.

Maybe if someone really pressed her hard, Natasha would answer that it wasn't about a specific type that she went for. It was more about what they had been through in their life. How could anyone who was less broken and damaged than she was possibly hope to understand her?

Maybe that was her type: dark, traumatised and with a knowledge of the worst aspects of humanity that someone only learned from being equally terrible at some point in their life.

It was what Natasha would have said if asked, not that anyone ever did. Not even Clint was quite that foolish.

So meeting Darcy Lewis, who was as far from being dark and broken as possible, took Natasha completely by surprise.

***

Natasha was eating lunch with Clint at SHIELD HQ the first time she met Darcy properly. They'd met a few days ago when Darcy was officially introduced to the team as Coulson's personal assistant, but it had been a team meeting and they hadn't done more than smile politely at each other. All Natasha knew was that Darcy had met Clint in a bar during or maybe after the New Mexico thing and Clint had given her a card in case she wanted a job after graduating.

She also knew Darcy brought really good doughnuts to the team meeting, which predisposed Natasha to at least tolerate her because how could she dislike someone who had high standards in baked goods?

So when Clint noticed that Darcy was looking slightly lost in the busy lunchroom and waved her over, Natasha didn't object.

"Darce, meet Natasha," Clint said with a wide grin. "Nat, Darcy Lewis."

"We've met," Natasha said dryly.

Clint shrugged. "Not met met, only introduced met."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "That's very coherent. Well done."

Darcy sat down and was poking gingerly at the plate of pasta and meatballs in front of her. "I'm trying to decide whether this is pasta or potato. The consistency is kind of in between."

Despite her best intentions, Natasha felt a smile tugging at her lips. "Going for the pasta is always a bold choice here."

Darcy looked up and narrowed her eyes. "I'm guessing that's your way of saying 'the pasta is gross, never eat the pasta', isn't it?"

Natasha held up a forkful of her garden salad. "That would be telling."

"Right, good tip. Always go for the salad." Darcy sighed and sliced into a meatball. "Any other tips?"

The way Darcy wrinkled her nose as she tasted the meatball was cute and Natasha allowed her smile to widen.

"The pasta is never a good choice," she said. "Anything with the word surprise in should be avoided and although the tuna casserole sounds good, trust me. It isn't. The salads are usually edible and the sandwiches aren't too bad, except for the ham. The chocolate cake is always disappointing."

Clint was watching her with a surprised expression and Natasha raised an eyebrow. He shook his head and concentrated hard on his helping of shepherd's pie.

Darcy grinned. "Thanks. That's the kind of stuff they never put in the training manuals. I've got entire chapters on how to correctly staple reports together and what each evacuation alarm means - and seriously, twenty-five different alarms? Really? - but nothing about what's safe to eat and where the fucking stationary stores are."

"How are you settling in, Darce?" Clint asked with a straight face.

The dark look Darcy shot him almost made Natasha laugh. Almost.

"This job is a maze of twisty-turny paperwork and ridiculous forms," Darcy said. "How did Coulson ever get anything done without an assistant?"

"He worked very long hours," Clint said. "Very. Long."

"Aw, poor Clint," Darcy said with an unsympathetic smirk. "I'll try to have him home by six tonight. OK?"

"As the last item on his agenda should be a team meeting in Stark Tower, he'd better still be at home at six," Clint said.

"How do you know what's on his agenda?"

Clint grinned. "We're spies, Darce. It's what we do."

"Breaking into Coulson's computer to check his schedule is a spy thing?"

Natasha snorted. "No, looking over Coulson's shoulder when he's checking his diary is a Clint thing."

"Busted!" Darcy crowed.

"Nat, how am I supposed to make the junior agents believe that we have ninja skills if you tell our secrets every time?" Clint complained.

"I'm not a junior agent," Darcy said firmly. "Do I look like an agent? I specifically said on my application form that I'm not a junior agent, I don't want a gun and I definitely don't want to be anywhere near the shit you guys get into."

"And yet you're working with Coulson," Clint said.

"The HR rep screwed me," Darcy said. "And sadly not in a literal sense."

Natasha couldn't help smiling again. "They do that a lot."

"So, team meeting later." Darcy poked at her half-eaten pasta and pushed it away slightly. "I'm swinging by the bakery on the way over. Anyone got preferences?"

She said it to everyone but Natasha though that Darcy's eyes might have lingered longer on her than on Clint.

"Doughnuts," Clint said firmly. "You can't go wrong with doughnuts. Make sure there's a jelly in there for Coulson, I'll eat anything."

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me." Darcy looked pointedly at Clint's clean plate. "Natasha, have you got a favourite?"

Usually Natasha said something vague or outright lied to that kind of question. There was no way to tell how much information a preference could give and Natasha didn't like to give people that kind of power over her.

So she was surprised when instead she found herself telling Darcy, "Anything with chocolate."

Darcy also looked startled for a moment but she covered well with an approving grin. "A dedicated and loyal chocoholic, I like that in a person."

Natasha shrugged and said nothing, which usually intimidated people but with Darcy...well, she suspected that there were very few things that could intimidate Darcy Lewis.

***

Natasha raised an eyebrow when she saw Darcy's desk for the first time a few days later.

"Isn't that a bit stereotyped?" she asked.

Darcy grinned up at her. "That's what I thought when I first saw it. The whole 1960s secretary sitting outside the boss's door doesn't really work for me, you know?"

As that was exactly what Natasha had been thinking, she nodded. Darcy didn't exactly look like a secretary, not wearing a poncho and cords combination in defiance of SHIELD dress code, but she was sitting at a desk just outside Coulson's door. There was even a stack of trays labelled things like "In", "Out", and "Mail".

"Then I figured out what my job really is," Darcy continued. "He needs someone to keep all the useless crap off his desk and take on the stuff that's way below his pay grade so that he has time to do what he's actually paid to do. And that means keeping idiots away from him with stupid, bullshit questions. Did you know he was spending two hours a day dealing with shit that's not his area because junior agents thought it was easier to ask him than figure stuff out themselves?"

"It doesn't surprise me," Natasha said, keeping her expression carefully blank.

"So me sitting out here frightens all the morons away," Darcy said. "It's way more effective than I thought it would be."

"Have you threatened to Taser any of them?"

A slight flush coloured Darcy's cheeks and Natasha wanted to slap herself for thinking it was kind of cute.

"Only a couple of them," Darcy said sheepishly. "Word got around, I guess."

Natasha failed to suppress a laugh and she was right back where she had been at lunch a few days ago: trying not to be charmed by Darcy and failing.

"So, what can I do for you Agent Romanov?" Darcy asked, her eyes still twinkling with laughter.

"Natasha, please." She told herself that this was what she would do with anyone joining their strange little Avenger family. "I need to see Coulson."

Darcy shook her head. "No can do, I'm afraid. He's down in R&D right now and then he's going straight into a meeting with Director Fury. I'm expecting him back around five, if it can wait?"

Natasha held up a file. "It can wait, I just needed to discuss this with him before he reads it."

"His schedule's clear after five," Darcy said with a reassuring smile. "Want some M&Ms as a reward for not pitching a shit fit because you can't see him immediately?"

There was a tall glass jar on Darcy's desk filled with the brightly coloured candy and Darcy opened it and nudged it over with an encouraging smile.

Natasha took a handful because she rarely said no to chocolate. "You're working a reward system?"

"I like to think I'm incentivising good behaviour," Darcy said.

"Usually I find that fear works much better."

"Fear and sugary rewards, these are my tools." Darcy rolled her eyes. "I figure that if it worked on a pair of thick-skinned scientists, it's got to work here."

Natasha chuckled, surprising herself yet again. "Thanks for the candy, Darcy. I should get going."

"Sure. Drop by any time."

***

Lunch with Darcy was starting to become habit. The first time that Clint wasn't there to gesture Darcy over, Natasha was a little disappointed but told herself it was a good thing. Darcy was sweet and bubbly and everything Natasha wasn't. It was a friendship that could never go anywhere and Clint was the only reason they talked outside official meetings.

Then a tray landed on the table opposite Natasha with a clatter and there was Darcy, entirely unconcerned about Clint not being there to ask her to join them and Natasha was barely aware of the time passing as they talked.

Natasha found herself looking forward to lunch with Darcy every day they were free, which was weird because they couldn't be more different if they tried.

The tray hit the table with a clatter as usual and Darcy slumped down in her chair with an exhausted groan.

"No Clint today?" Natasha asked.

"He's helping Coulson with paperwork," Darcy said.

"They're still calling it that?" 

Natasha couldn't resist smirking a little and she was rewarded with rolled eyes and a quickly hidden rude gesture.

"No, really, they're actually doing paperwork," Darcy said. "I've spent most of the morning finding dusty boxes of files for them and they've been organising it all into stacks everywhere on the floor. Fuck knows what they're doing, but they ordered pizza half an hour ago and Clint stole my entire stash of post-its."

"Stay away from them," Natasha said. "Whatever you do, don't get dragged into it."

"Do you know what it is?"

"It could be any one of four or five things and you don't want to know about any of them." Natasha shrugged. "Leave it to Clint. He hates paperwork as much as I do, but at least Coulson won't start threatening to shoot him if he doesn't find whatever they're looking for. Maybe."

"I guess it's the perk of sleeping with the boss," Darcy said.

Natasha snorted. "You honestly think that would stop Coulson giving him a warning shot in the leg? No, it's all the complaining. Clint always whines like a baby when Coulson shoots him."

There was a long pause while Darcy looked at her as though trying to decide whether she was serious.

"I really don't want to know," Darcy said eventually.

"Wise decision."

"So, I was thinking." There was a cheerful grin on Darcy's face that Natasha couldn't help returning. "We should go out for drinks. I've found a great place that does cocktails and dessert."

"I'm not really a cocktail person," Natasha said warily.

Darcy waved that away. "You just haven't met the right cocktail yet. Trust me, this is a great idea."

"Darcy-"

"Their Death by Chocolate is better than sex. Three types of chocolate, that's all I'm saying."

The image made Natasha's entire processing power shudder to a halt. She blinked once and then carefully put on her most inscrutable, bland expression.

"Are you trying to bribe me with chocolate again?" she asked.

"Is it working?"

There was such a hopeful expression on Darcy's face that Natasha could feel her resolve crumbling. It wasn't even the promised chocolate confection; it was the look in Darcy's eyes because Natasha had always had a weakness for beautiful eyes.

"Fine, it's a date," Natasha said reluctantly.

Darcy grinned and stole a bite of Natasha's salad. "You won't regret this."

***

There was a low whistle when Natasha entered the rec room on Friday night. Clint was the only person there, sprawling on the couch watching something on the huge TV that seemed to involve a lot of explosions. She levelled her most repressive glare on him and he grinned at her.

"Going anywhere nice?" he asked.

"Out," she said brusquely.

Clint sat up, suddenly looking very interested. "Huh. You're only this defensive if you're seeing someone you know that I won't like."

Natasha sighed. "Drinks. With Darcy Lewis. There's nothing to tell."

The quick scan he gave her outfit and the raised eyebrows told her that Clint had done some maths and come to a conclusion that wasn't going to make her happy. Maybe she was looking a little dressier than she normally would for a night of drinking, but a place serving cocktails and desserts didn't seem like the kind of place where jeans and leather would be appropriate.

"You know, Darcy's a great girl," Clint said slowly, "but isn't she a bit...sweet?"

"Sweet," Natasha said flatly.

"Fuck, Nat, I've seen your type," Clint said. "You don't go for the nice ones."

"So why did I go for you?"

"We were concussed," he said blithely. "And then we were drunk."

Natasha gave him her best shark's smile and said, "Great rationalising, Clint."

He shrugged and she nodded because really, there were days when working out why they'd even attempted anything together all those years ago just gave her a headache.

"Where's Coulson?" Natasha asked as she slipped on her shoes.

Clint sighed and settled back on the couch. "Quarterly budget reviews."

"Ouch."

"Yeah."

"That's the price of dating the boss, I guess," Natasha said because it was always fun to tease him.

He reacted exactly the way she expected, looking all prickly and saying, "He's not the boss anymore, Nat."

"Keep telling yourself that," Natasha said cheerfully. "It's sweet that you believe it."

He flipped her off and turned his attention to his movie, which was exactly the effect Natasha had been aiming for. She checked her purse one last time and waved good bye. Some days Clint could be the most annoying asshole she knew.

Then there were the days when he was an annoying asshole but his antics could calm the nervous churning in her stomach that she was trying not to examine too closely.

***

They met at the bar and Natasha immediately knew she was in trouble. Darcy at work was sweet and funny, with a dress sense that was best described as 'quirky'. Outside work, she was stunning.

The slim dark red dress showed off every curve and Natasha's eyes were drawn to trace the line of her hips and thigh despite her best intentions. Darcy's hair fell in sleek waves down her back and framed her face, showing off perfect creamy skin and blue eyes. An appreciative smile slowly spread across Darcy's lips when her eyes met Natasha's.

"Well, hello beautiful," Darcy drawled. "Don't you scrub up nicely?"

Natasha raised both eyebrows.

"Do I have something in my teeth?" Darcy asked.

"No," Natasha said. "You just don't normally..."

"Leer?" Darcy supplied helpfully. "I'm trying to pretend to be a professional at work."

"Professional? That's what you're aiming for?" Natasha smiled. "You hit a bit closer to cute puppy, I'm sorry." 

Darcy groaned. "Is that how I come across? Cute puppy?"

"You're very convincing."

"Then I definitely need to get drunk and eat more chocolate and sugar than the human body should hold."

Despite Natasha's protests there were cocktails. Not pink ones, thankfully, but they were fruity and there were tiny umbrellas. There were also two types of incredibly chocolaty dessert and they didn't even need to consult to put them both in the middle of the table and share. Darcy made comically pornographic noises with every bite, which made Natasha laugh even though she was determined not to find Darcy charming at all.

Midway through Darcy's second glass of something purple and strong, Darcy tried to look very serious and said, "I'm glad we didn't have to fight mutant blue crocodiles or some shit like that tonight."

Natasha smiled. "So am I. Although I'm surprised you didn't have to stay for the budget meeting tonight."

"Coulson told me to go home because he's a sweetie," Darcy said.

"Coulson is...a sweetie?" Natasha thought she did well to keep her incredulity at a low level.

After all, she had seen Coulson in combat, conducting interrogations and in very bad moods due to bureaucratic fuck-ups. 'Sweetie' was a word that she'd never associate with him.

"Sure!" Darcy said cheerfully. "I don't know why the PR guy looks like he's going to piss himself every time he has to meet with Coulson, the boss man's a complete softie at heart."

Natasha couldn't help a snort at that. "You're probably the only person who looks at him that way."

"Not even Clint?"

"Definitely not Clint."

They were quiet for a while and Natasha watched Darcy scoop up a forkful of the chocolate mousse and cake concoction. She could feel the alcohol buzzing through her system now making everything a little fuzzy and fluffy at the edges.

It gave Natasha the confidence to ask something she'd been wondering about for a while, but hadn't quite wanted to ask because she hadn't been able to predict Darcy's reaction. She didn't like conversations that she couldn't anticipate. "Why did you join SHIELD?"

Darcy looked thoughtful as she sucked chocolate off her fork. "To make a difference."

"Really?"

"I know, so corny." Darcy shrugged. "But...I watched you guys fighting the Chitauri last year. And all the shit you've done since. And I was there when Loki sent that thing to kill Thor and it levelled most of a town. A lot of people got hurt, some people got killed, and I wanted to do something. Except I can't hit anything I intend to with a gun, that's why I have a Taser, and I'm not exactly built to be a ninja like you. I also really don't want to get killed and man, your death in combat rate is fucked."

Darcy took a sip of her cocktail and hissed at the burn of the alcohol. "So I looked at my skill-set and I've spent two summers doing Jane's paperwork, reminding her to eat and herding two brilliant but totally clueless scientists around so they could function in the real world. And that's the kind of thing I'm good at so I figured, SHIELD probably needs people who can do that stuff as well as people who can punch out a giant space whale or rewire a nuclear weapon."

Natasha wasn't sure what she had expected but this story wasn't it. Under the fluffy, happy go lucky pose and the weird hats, Darcy was surprisingly thoughtful.

After a long moment, Darcy shifted and frowned. "What? Was that really stupid and sappy?"

"No," Natasha said. "Not at all. It was good."

Darcy smiled uncertainly. "What about you, Agent Romanov? Why are you here?"

The teasing note when Darcy used her title made Natasha smile, just a slight twitch at the corners of her lips. "Which story do you want?"

"The truth would be nice," Darcy said. "But I'll settle for a nice lie if it's what you prefer."

Natasha shrugged because somehow Darcy's willingness to listen to a lie made it easier to tell the truth. "I have a debt."

Darcy's eyes narrowed. "I'm hoping this isn't a money debt otherwise SHELD is skeevier than I'd imagined."

"It's not a money debt," Natasha said, unable to maintain a completely serious expression in the face of Darcy's nose-wrinkling.

"So it's a debt to society kind of thing," Darcy said. "That's cool."

"Most people wouldn't call it that."

"I'm not most people."

Natasha frowned. "No, you're not."

***

Natasha propped Darcy up next to her apartment door and rooted through Darcy's purse. Darcy was ambulatory, thank god or the three flights of stairs would have been even worse, but she had gone past giggly drunk and was currently at the unable to work a door handle stage of drunk.

"Lemme help with that," Darcy slurred, waving a hand vaguely and almost hitting herself on the nose.

"No," Natasha said. "You're drunk."

"I'm ablostu...abstolu...fucking wasted."

"Mmm." Natasha found the key and fitted it in the lock. "Are you sure this is the right apartment?"

Darcy blinked. "Yup. You have to wiggle it. Wiggle. Heh."

It took a bit of jiggling but Natasha eventually got the door open and steered Darcy inside.

"My apartment sucks," Darcy said sadly. "It's a sucky apartment. Bet you've got a great place. All pretty and shiny. You're a 'Venger. You live with Tony Stark. But not like that 'cos he's got Pepper and you're too good for him."

"You're a cute drunk," Natasha said.

"Damn straight!"

It wasn't a great apartment but Natasha had definitely lived in worse. For a start, this apartment had its own bedroom and bathroom which immediately ranked it above several of Natasha's safe houses. There was also enough space for a sofa, a chair and a TV in the living area and the kitchen had a stove that was old but looked usable.

"Can I get you a drink?" Darcy asked, leaning against her heavily.

"I think you've had enough," Natasha said.

"Are you cutting me off?"

"And making sure you get to bed." Natasha pointed Darcy in the direction of the bedroom and pushed gently. "Go on."

Darcy stumbled to the door and caught herself on the door jamb, looking back reproachfully. "Not tucking me in?"

"No."

"I'm drunk. I might fall over before I get there."

"The bed is two feet away from you."

"Where you gonna sleep?"

Natasha cocked her head. "At home."

Darcy blew a raspberry and almost tilted herself onto the floor, saving her balance by flopping onto the nearby bed. "Fuck that. S'not safe."

"I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, 'cos you're Black Widow!" Darcy propped herself up on her elbows. "But stay anyway. Please?"

It probably wasn't a good idea because Natasha was far more drawn to Darcy than she should be, but going home was oddly unappealing. "I'll take the couch."

"Awesome." Darcy flopped back on the bed. "Gonna sleep now."

Natasha chuckled and pulled the bedroom door mostly shut before hunting through the closets for a quilt and pillows.

***

Natasha always spent a while feigning sleep while assessing her surroundings when she first woke up. It was a habit that had saved her neck a few times and the only person who had ever called her on it was Clint. Even he could only tell she was awake maybe fifty per cent of the time.

She was lying on an uncomfortable sofa and the quilt covering her was old and smelled of cedar. Somewhere to her left she could hear the hum of a refrigerator and the faint sound of traffic was distant enough to tell her that wherever she was, it wasn't a busy street. There were footsteps overhead and somewhere below she could hear a cat yowling.

Underneath all of it, Natasha could hear quiet, slow breathing that had just the tiniest hint of snuffle at the start of each inhalation. Natasha smiled to herself and sat up. Daylight was streaming in through the windows with the bright clarity of midmorning sunshine. The patchwork quilt she'd found last night had the worn and slightly frayed look of a much loved treasure and Natasha's eyes were drawn to the crookedly stitched "D" on one patch.

It didn't surprise Natasha that Darcy would have something like this. Darcy was the kind of person who made memories and kept things around that made her happy.

Natasha's black cocktail dress was still draped over a chair where she had left it. She wrapped the quilt around her shoulders and groaned quietly as she stood because the sofa had twisted her back into all kinds of bad shapes.

Darcy's bedroom door was slightly ajar and Natasha didn't feel at all guilty about sneaking in and rooting through her drawers for a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. After all, it was Darcy's fault she was still here.

At some stage in the night, Darcy had woken up long enough to strip out of her dress and snuggle under the covers. All Natasha could see of her was a bare shoulder and some brown hair and Natasha definitely didn't watch her sleep because that shit was creepy.

Instead she crept out of the bedroom, had a quick shower and dressed in the borrowed clothes. Darcy was a little taller and curvier, but the loose fit felt comfortable. Natasha briefly considered just leaving but she had a feeling someone like Darcy would consider that rude.

There was an ancient coffee maker on the kitchen counter. Natasha set it brewing and then hunted out Tylenol and some water. Darcy's fridge was depressingly bare but there were a couple of apples in the salad drawer and half a carton of milk in the door. When the coffee was ready, Natasha loaded up a tray with her finds and carried it through to the bedroom.

Darcy was sitting up, squinting blearily and holding her covers nearly up to her chin when Natasha entered.

"You stayed," Darcy said and she winced.

Natasha put the tray down on the floor by the bed and shrugged. "You asked me to."

"I was a bit drunk last night," Darcy said.

"A bit?" Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I can still remember most of it and you didn't have to carry me through the door so I wasn't _that_ drunk." Darcy's eyes suddenly lit up. "Hey, could you actually carry me? I mean, I know I'm not exactly delicate but you're the Black Widow."

Natasha blinked. "Maybe?"

"Cool." Darcy grinned, looking very cheerful for a woman with a hangover. "I've been wondering about that."

There was nothing Natasha could think of to say to that so she silently handed Darcy some Tylenol and a bottle of water and sat on the edge of the bed. Darcy downed the painkillers with half the water and sighed.

"I like this," she said.

"Hangovers?"

"Beautiful women bringing me breakfast in bed," Darcy said with a smile. "Can I kiss you?"

"Wh-"

"I'm asking because I don't want to get beaten to a pulp if I try to sneak one on you," Darcy continued. "And while I think you're hot when you're doing the ninja thing, I'm pretty sure that it won't be so hot if it's me that you're doing it to. So. Can I kiss you?"

Natasha swallowed because, well, Darcy was funny and beautiful and completely wrong for her.

"You know, the polite response is not usually staring," Darcy said after a short wait.

"I'm not..." Natasha took a deep breath and straightened her back. "I don't do this."

"You don't do...what? Sex?" Darcy chuckled. "That sounds unlikely."

Natasha gestured vaguely around her. "No, this. Love. Relationships. You don't seem like the friends with benefits type."

Darcy snorted. "Bull. Shit."

That was definitely not the reaction Natasha had expected and she didn't even know which part Darcy was referring to.

"If you don't love Clint and Coulson then I'll eat one of my hats." Darcy considered for a moment. "You also get a bit angry when Bruce is in trouble."

"That's not love," Natasha said practically.

The incredulous look she got would have looked silly on anyone other than Darcy.

"You have some very strange ideas about love," Darcy said. "I've been watching you guys, they're all family to you. A very weird, deeply disturbed family obviously, but you can't tell me that you don't love them. So you do love and you do relationships."

Apparently Darcy was a lot more observant than Natasha had given her credit for. It was another facet to consider, to add to her collection of Darcy facts. And it was tempting to say yes and kiss Darcy, Natasha couldn't pretend it wasn't something she'd sometimes thought about, but she also couldn't let herself forget how different they were.

How Darcy was filled with light and Natasha was best left in the shadows.

"I'm not saying we should move in together and buy a cat immediately," Darcy said when the silence threatened to get oppressive again. "I'm just saying...maybe you could kiss me and we could go out for coffee and see what happens. I like you, Natasha. You're beautiful and amazing and when you aren't pretending to be a joyless robot you're funny as hell."

"I'm not a good person," Natasha protested.

"Fuck that." Darcy scooted forward until she could put a hand on Natasha's arm. "You hold onto all that darkness and I know you've done some terrible things in the past, but now you're Natasha. You're a superhero. And I like my superheroes dark and complicated so would you please shut up and kiss me now?"

This was maybe the most awkward seduction Natasha had ever been part of and she had a lot of experience in this area. She knew that she looked a mess with wet hair and poorly fitting clothes. Darcy was hung over and she was trying to maintain a small amount of dignity with her blankets but the reality was that she was only wearing the bra and panties that she had slept in.

When they kissed it still made Natasha's toes curl and her heart thunder in her chest.

She pulled away for a moment to catch her breath and said, "You've done this before."

Darcy smiled wickedly. "Oh yeah."

"All right then."


End file.
